Bloomberg appointed to UN Special Envoy for Climate Change

Special envoy to the United Nations for climate change Michael Bloomberg speaks during the Plenary Session of the One Planet Summit at the Seine Musicale event site on the Ile Seguin near Paris, France, 12 December 2017. The One Planet Summit starts on 12 December 2017, two years to the day after the historic Paris Agreement was concluded. EPA-EFE/ETIENNE LAURENT / POOL MAXPPP OUT

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday was named UN Special Envoy for Climate Change by the United Nation’s Secretary-General António Guterres.

Bloomberg will lead the UN’s climate change initiative and his high-profile presence is expected to bring added weight to the UN Climate Summit scheduled for 2019. He will also to help implement the Paris Accord of 2015. The climate summit will “mobilise stronger and more ambitious action towards the 2020 action goals”, according to a press release sent out by Bloomberg.

Bloomberg and Guterres both want to close the emissions gap to limit the global temperature increase to below 2 degrees Celsius. Guterres said Bloomberg is “convinced” the US will reach the Paris Accord goals despite President Donald J. Trump‘s decision to pull the US out of the agreement by 2020.

“My hope is that President Trump listens to his advisers and looks at the data and changes his mind. And if that’s the case, that shows a great leader who when facts change, and they recognize something different, they’re not bound to what they did before. They’re willing to change,” said Bloomberg.